Blog on Cairns Interrupted

We interrupt this Carnival to explain why we are a week late: somebody died, I went up the Cape and I have spent this past week downscaling the services available at Imaginif. My apologies  and I’m really happy to now get back to regular Blog On Cairns programming:

My fears have been revisited this week with a Man Taken by Croc in Cooktown. Andrew at AGT.ID.AU posts on the initial story of what was believed to be a croc taking. The fears have now been taken as gospel as the 62 year old male has not shown up anywhere. Many of you will know that I am very scared of crocodiles. After growing up in Papua New Guinea and having lived on the Endeavour River in Cooktown (the place where the man was taken by the croc) for many years, my fears are very healthy. I have seen some VERY LARGE crocs up the Endeavour and I still have nightmares about them to this day.

Andrew Griffiths: Sky Hawks goes corporate with Networking is not a dirty word. Not quite Sky Hawks, just Andrew reminding us all of the importance and worth of networking as a business strategy:

For me every time I meet someone is a networking opportunity. Sitting on a plane, buying something from a shop, sitting next to a person in a seminar and so on.

One of my skills is networking. It takes time, definite strategies and it is a two way relationship when someone is attempting to network with you. As has Andrew, I encourage networking and positive reframing of opportunities to be with new people.

Big Little Sister: Oh Monet, Next thing you know I’ll be calling her Claude…. Monet is living up the her name and creating gorgeous portraits of both still and moving life. Melody, I agree that you have both the artist and model in one. She can make all your Christmas wrapping paper too. Let her loose with the brush, the butchers paper and voila, wrapping paper that is hangable.

Birdwing Therapies: My condolences to Keran, not to Mango and Pabu who were kicked out of home. After surviving years of green living, Keran has finally succumbed to the hot flushes synonymous with our age group and has had air conditioning installed. The pampered pooches may have driven the workers to despair, so Keran and the husband packed the pooches off for a little pampering of their own. Oh to be in the dog house in that house!

Cairns Blog.net: If you were Homer Simpson who would you vote for: Obama or McCain? Watch what happens when Homer actually makes the right choice (he he, my own political bias is coming in here: Homer votes for Barack Obama). Big brother sucks up to Homer, and punishes him for voting the right way (which is really left in our thinking). A humorous, yet disturbing, Simpson view of the real life Simpson politics being played out in the U.S. Is this life imitating art or art imitating life?

Cairns Unlimited: Oh dear! Are we becoming a Police State? It sure sounds like it Steve. The power of advertising is enough to send me to drink!!!!! I had just better find out from the Liquor Licensing Board how to interrupt the difference between food and alcohol advertising!

Have camera will travel: When I grow up I want a job like Paul’s. In Sometimes you gotta walk, Paul visits Wallaman Falls (Ingham) and shoots the high and the low. We live in such a spectacular area, with a smorgasbord of photographic delights that I am always surprised when locals fail to intimately know the beauty of our area. For a long time, we visit a new place on weekends. Working our way through the alphabet made the choices easy. On W weekend, we visited Wallamen Falls. Unlike Paul, nobody bought my shots

Jean Burman (artist): Superb post: That other black hole. I cannot do this post justice by comment. I instead tease you with an exert and invite you to read Jean’s full analysis and comment on current day economic liabilities:

A black hole so deep and so dark and so unstable that it had successfully sucked a bunch of the world’s largest banks, institutions and corporations into the empty ugly void of financial “deep space”. A black hole of such gargantuan proportions that every man woman and child on the planet will not escape the “gravity” of it.

Alas… unable to blame the Collider (because it has already broken down)… we are forced to cast around for another villain. And what we see is something way more sinister. There at the helm of the mother ship… set on a doomsday course to oblivion… sits a bunch of egocentric greedy individuals whose free-range money grabbing actions have served to rewrite the pages of history with the blood of all those who trusted them to deliver up their dream of a better situation.

Touche!

nunyaa: Heroes in Death. The Bali bombers await execution. With execution they become martyrs and the fulfil their task of Jihad. Nunyaa poses an interesting and age old question on whether capital punishment always works.Certainly in the case of the Bali bombers, is life in prison a better option because it then takes away their coveted martyrdom? What do you think?

Psych Matters: Multiculturalism, Beliefs, Values and Attitudes in TV advertising: A review of the topic. There seems to be a theme of advertising running through this weeks Blog ON Cairns Carnival. Char ponders on the ethnocentricity of television advertising:

Can television advertising effectiveness help create better social interactions? Eliminate waste and encourage recycling? How do you see multiculturalism, beliefs, values and attitudes as influencing consumer choices?

Interesting questions, and just as an online psychology tutor should aim to do, these questions have taken me back to first year psychology and sociology. Char, using your blog as a point of reference for your clients is a very clever use of blogging as an information outlet.

Spasmodic Dysphonia: Well, well. The blogging Voice from Oblivion returns. A blogospheric absence of five and a half months has seen many changes in my mother’s life. Read the tip of the ice berg in her post. For those that do not know, Spasmodic Dysphonia is a movement disorder that affects the voice. Mum has little voice and the energy required to force sound out is often too great to be bothered with. Her blog is her alternative form of communication. Drop in and introduce yourself as a fellow Cairns blogger.

Teddy Tour: We are gearing up for the Teddy Tour at Imaginif on October the 31st. A new art and craft group has been formed – Crafty Survivors – and participants are concentrating on making Teddy and Story Tag paraphernalia. One of the Crafty Survivor participants in Chess: Chess’ big step brother had his way with her. If you think you are living in a Paradise where nothing bad happens to its citizens, think again. Our Police District has the highest number of reported sexual assaults Australia wide. What does that say for the number of hidden and silent sexual assaults in our town and area!

That concludes this edition. You have each been green thumbs up Stumbled and some of you Dugg.  Submit your blog article to the next edition of Blog On Cairns using our submission form. Would someone else like to host next Saturday or Sunday please? My daughter and her husband (and my grand daughter ) are moving in next weekend and I may be a bit busy (on Mema duties).

Don’t forget to visit each other and to submit posts to whatever indexing sites you use (I use Stumble Upon and Digg).

Technorati tags:

blog on cairns, australia, blog carnival.

Blog On Cairns 3

What are your fellow Cairns bloggers up to? This is now the third Blog On Cairns Carnival and this week we have two new Cairns blogs added to the list. Read our Carnival to catch up with the old and new Cairns bloggers and those who haven’t drowned in the sea of blogs and have managed to update their blogs since last weekend’s Carnival:

Cairns Bloggers

AGT.ID.AU Cairns Australia: Given the winds of late, our fishing lover come land landed, Andrew, is convinced that God hates him. The seven day wave and wind forecast fails to fill Andrew with adoration and Hallelujahs! Andrew is one of our newest bloggers on the list although his blog is not brand new. I found Andrew via Entrecard. For those who are struggling to attract traffic or to decide on a social network to join, I recommend you check out Entrecard.

Andrew Griffiths: A serious and regular blogger, Andrew is both a world renown marketing guru and the Ambassador for the old Abused Child Trust, no called Act for Kids. In The grass is always greener or is it? Andrew nicely points toward internal motivation and belief but most importantly, self reflection. Imagine something you love in your job now. Now intensify that 100%. Is it still as pleasurable or are the costs associated with it too great? Andrew picks travel and key note speaking as his love. With that comes airport waits, motels, bad coffee and being surrounded by people who all want just a tiny piece of your time. Meanwhile, the ones you want to spend maximum time with are at home, cursing missing you.

Berry Baby: Are you familiar with Shannon’s designer nappies? I bought Jade and Amelie the part time pack. Adorable and environmentally friendly, I encourage all to look at Shannon’s Berry Baby products. In Nappy Hunt on again, Shannon encourages Mum run small business supporting other Mum run businesses:

The hunt is such a wonderful way for small businesses operated by mums to show off their fabulous products. It’s great to support other mums as well, so that we can all earn an income while raising our children. I have donated a bottle of Berry Safe Insect Repellent and a jar of Baby Bottom Balm as part of the huge prize packs on offer.

I love the idea Shannon. How can I participate?

Big Little Sister: After Melody and Lyndon’s traumatic few weeks after losing their baby, Melody claims that she is finally Getting There. The job offer has been accepted and the Cairns family is moving to Abu Dhabi. The beauty of blogging though is that Melody will never be far from any of us.

Birdwing Therapies: What a fantastic training in Strengths Based practice Birdwing put on last week: What a week for Birdwing and Imaginif. Attended by 27 local practitioners, a trainer from Victoria came up and imparted both the theory and practice of Strengths Based client work. If anyone is wanting to purchase any of the St Luke’s resources, Keran has them at Birdwing Therapies and can order up at any time when stocks begin to deplete (like they have after this recent training.)

Cairns Blog.net: Is Australia in Jail? Is Big Brother going too far and regulating our every hop? A new cartoon for the Cairns Blog, the skippy metaphore is far different to the Skippy pleasure of my youth. What do you think of this: CairnsBlog cartoon by Circusmouse

Cairns Great Barrier Reef Diving: The other new Cairns Blog on the Carnival, this one has FANTASTIC underwater pics of trainee divers.  We live in such a beautiful place of the world and diving on the Great Barrier Reef is undisputedly a tourist attraction, why not blog it and attract more tourists to our wonderland. Check out Small world at Great Barrier Reef. OMG! I love this place. This blog is also a member of entrecard. If you other bloggers want to be found, get onto Entrecard.

Cairns Unlimited: Maria and Steve are going to Spain (Maria’s country) for Christmas and are on the hunt for interesting and local pressies. Where better to head than the Port Douglas Markets. Goodness me, there must have been more Cairnsites than tourists at the markets because many of my friends also headed to Port Douglas for the weekend…all beginning their Christmas Shopping.

Have camera will travel: Paul flicks us all a Photo Project:

When you travel, try keeping your eye out for a single subject that you can photograph. It can be anything you like but photograph them wherever you go.

What a great way to under whelm yourself when wondering what is important for the scrap book album.  I would choose signs of a healthy community focused on child protection. What a great way to display the cultural differences in the value of children. I am glad to report Paul that my photography is finally improving. Your blogged words about tripods and setting up the shot helped me greatly….as does breathing! When I hold by breath to stay still, I shake more!!!!

Imaginif…child protection became serious business: I’ve had a week of training. I facilitated a BITSS of protective play training for Child Protection Week, attended Birdwing’s Strengths Based training (it was here at Imaginif) and then met with Child Safety Staff in Innisfail to explain our new wrap around, therapeutic case management model for families in the statutory system. This coming week I am off to NPA for three days (training women’s groups) and some face to face work). My husband is heading to Coen and my poor Boy is wondering why he ever had parents! Lucky I’ve got the odd strength of conviction tucked up my sleeve!

Jean Burman (artist): Are you all still there? In Big bang goes pop, Jean helps to clear up the matter mess. Not a body part mess or a garden mess. Neither is it a star and planet mess. Just the mess created by the big boys when they pull out their big toys. If only homelessness and child abuse could have a fraction of the research money spent on mass mess for Chris mess!

Nicky Jurd: I have a Precious Book [her eyes dart up and to the right as she hears, "My precious" being whispered in her head] into which goes all of my passwords and website details. The book is the creator of many arguments in our house – “Where’s my precious book!” I often call out scream to the boys!!!!!!!! A beautiful and gold edged book, it really is a VERY IMPORTANT piece of my online life. In Your Website Essentials File, Nicky encourages each of you to create a similar Precious Book and she tells you exactly what you need to keep track of. A book, a file, pieces of paper in the safe; it matters not how you keep your web site details, just be sure you do keep them all and can lay your fingers on them at a moment’s need.

Teddy Tour: Do not forget to come on the Cairns Teddy Tour with us. The Teddies wearing their little story tags are indeed a powerful and moving experience of change. If you are thinking that you are safe from potential sexual assaults in Cairns then think again. Cairns has high rates of reported sexual assault and a large number of people living in our beautiful city who are recovering from the affects of sexual assault. Do you know anyone who might like to fill in a confidential story tag so that their survival is given a voice.

That’s it till next week. If you would like to host an edition of Blog On Cairns, give me a hoy via my contact form. It simply involves collating and commenting on the most recent posts of those on the Cairns Bloggers list. Please, if you know of any Cairns bloggers, can you flick me their details so that I can add them to the list. You can help out fellow bloggers infiltrate the blogosphere by link, link, linking to Cairns Bloggers, just as I have linked to all of you.